Thursday morning July 21

Preparation

Opening response

Lord, open our lipsand our mouth will proclaim your praise.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Sovereign God, creator of all,to you be glory and praise forever.You founded the earth in the beginningand the heavens are the work of your hands.In the fullness of time you made us in your image,and in these last days you have spoken to usin your Son Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.As we rejoice in the gift of your presence among uslet the light of your love always shine in our hearts,your Spirit ever renew our livesand your praises ever be on our lips.Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.Blessed be God forever.

Hymn

Being of Beings, God of Love

Charles Wesley

Being of beings, God of love,To thee our hearts we raise;Thy all-sustaining power we prove,And gladly sing thy praise.

Thine, wholly thine, we pant to be;Our sacrifice receive!Made, and preserved, and saved by thee,To thee ourselves we give.

May the God of all healing and forgivenessdraw us to himself,and cleanse us from all our sinsthat we may behold the glory of his Son,the Word made flesh,Jesus Christ our Lord.Amen.

The Word of God

Psalm 37

Refrain:The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord.

Don’t get upset over evildoers; don’t be jealous of those who do wrong, because they will fade fast, like grass; they will wither like green vegetables.Trust the Lord and do good; live in the land, and farm faithfulness.Enjoy the Lord, and he will give what your heart asks.Commit your way to the Lord! Trust him! He will act and will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, your justice like high noon.Be still before the Lord, and wait for him.Don’t get upset when someone gets ahead— someone who invents evil schemes.Let go of anger and leave rage behind! Don’t get upset—it will only lead to evil.Because evildoers will be eliminated, but those who hope in the Lord— they will possess the land.In just a little while the wicked won’t exist! If you go looking around their place, they won’t be there.But the weak will inherit the land; they will enjoy a surplus of peace.The wicked plot against the righteous, grinding their teeth at them.But my Lord just laughs at them because he knows that their day is coming.The wicked draw their swords and bend their bows to bring down the weak and the needy, to slaughter those whose way is right.But the sword of the wicked will enter their own hearts! Their bows will be broken!Better is the little that the righteous have than the overabundant wealth of the wicked.The arms of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord supports the righteous.The Lord is intimately acquainted with the lives of the blameless; their heritage will last forever.They won’t be ashamed in troubling times, and in a period of famine they will eat their fill.But the wicked will die, the Lord’s enemies will disappear— disappear like the beauty of a meadow—in smoke.The wicked borrow and don’t pay it back, but the righteous are generous and giving.Those blessed by God will possess the land, but those cursed by God will be cut off.A person’s steps are made secure by the Lord when they delight in his way.Though they trip up, they won’t be thrown down, because the Lord holds their hand.I was young and now I’m old, but I have never seen the righteous left all alone, have never seen their children begging for bread.They are always gracious and generous. Their children are a blessing.Turn away from evil! Do good! Then you will live in the land forever.The Lord loves justice. He will never leave his faithful all alone. They are guarded forever, but the children of the wicked are eliminated.The righteous will possess the land; they will live on it forever.The mouths of the righteous recite wisdom; their tongues discuss justice.The Instruction of their God is in their hearts; they don’t miss a step.The wicked, on the other hand, target the righteous, seeking to kill them.But the Lord won’t leave the righteous to the power of the wicked, and won’t let the righteous be found guilty when they are judged.Hope in the Lord and keep his way! He will lift you up so you can possess the land. When the wicked are eliminated, you will see it for yourself!I myself have seen wicked powerful people, exalting themselves like a stately cedar.But when I came back, they were gone! I looked all over for them, but they couldn’t be found!Observe those who have integrity and watch those whose heart is right because the future belongs to persons of peace.But wrongdoers will be destroyed all together; the future of the wicked will be cut short.The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; he is their refuge in times of trouble.The Lord will help them and rescue them— rescue them from the wicked—and he will save them because they have taken refuge in him.

Glory to the Father and to the Sonand to the Holy Spirit;as it was in the beginning is nowand will be forever. Amen.

Refrain:The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord.

Psalm prayer

Blessed and holy God,ever merciful and forgiving,may we turn from what is eviland do what is good in your sight,for you have saved us by the cross of your Son,our Savior Jesus Christ.

Old Testament reading1 Samuel 17:1-30

The Philistines assembled their troops for war at Socoh of Judah. They camped between Socoh and Azekah at Ephes-dammim. Saul and the Israelite army assembled and camped in the Elah Valley, where they got organized to fight the Philistines. The Philistines took positions on one hill while Israel took positions on the opposite hill. There was a valley between them.

A champion named Goliath from Gath came out from the Philistine camp. He was more than nine feet tall. He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore bronze scale-armor weighing one hundred twenty-five pounds. He had bronze plates on his shins, and a bronze scimitar hung on his back. His spear shaft was as strong as the bar on a weaver’s loom, and its iron head weighed fifteen pounds. His shield-bearer walked in front of him.

He stopped and shouted to the Israelite troops, “Why have you come and taken up battle formations? I am the Philistine champion, and you are Saul’s servants. Isn’t that right? Select one of your men, and let him come down against me. If he is able to fight me and kill me, then we will become your slaves, but if I overcome him and kill him, then you will become our slaves and you will serve us. I insult Israel’s troops today!” The Philistine continued, “Give me an opponent, and we’ll fight!” When Saul and all Israel heard what the Philistine said, they were distressed and terrified.

Now David was Jesse’s son, an Ephraimite from Bethlehem in Judah who had eight sons. By Saul’s time, Jesse was already quite old and far along in age. Jesse’s three oldest sons had gone with Saul to war. Their names were Eliab the oldest, Abinadab the second oldest, and Shammah the third oldest. (David was the youngest.) These three older sons followed Saul, but David went back and forth from Saul’s side to shepherd his father’s flock in Bethlehem.

For forty days straight the Philistine came out and took his stand, both morning and evening. Jesse said to his son David, “Please take your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread. Deliver them quickly to your brothers in the camp. And here, take these ten wedges of cheese to their unit commander. Find out how your brothers are doing and bring back some sign that they are okay. They are with Saul and all the Israelite troops fighting the Philistines in the Elah Valley.”

So David got up early in the morning, left someone in charge of the flock, and loaded up and left, just as his father Jesse had instructed him. He reached the camp right when the army was taking up their battle formations and shouting the war cry. Israel and the Philistines took up their battle formations opposite each other. David left his things with an attendant and ran to the front line. When he arrived, he asked how his brothers were doing. Right when David was speaking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, came forward from the Philistine ranks and said the same things he had said before. David listened. When the Israelites saw Goliath, every one of them ran away terrified of him. (Now the Israelite soldiers had been saying to each other: “Do you see this man who keeps coming out? How he comes to insult Israel? The king will reward with great riches whoever kills that man. The king will give his own daughter to him and make his household exempt from taxes in Israel.”)

David asked the soldiers standing by him, “What will be done for the person who kills that Philistine over there and removes this insult from Israel? Who is that uncircumcised Philistine, anyway, that he can get away with insulting the army of the living God?”

Then the troops repeated to him what they had been saying. “So that’s what will be done for the man who kills him,” they said.

When David’s oldest brother Eliab heard him talking to the soldiers, he got very mad at David. “Why did you come down here?” he said. “Who is watching those few sheep for you in the wilderness? I know how arrogant you are and your devious plan: you came down just to see the battle!”

“What did I do wrong this time?” David replied. “It was just a question!”

So David turned to someone else and asked the same thing, and the people said the same thing in reply.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament readingLuke 24:1-12

Very early in the morning on the first day of the week, the women went to the tomb, bringing the fragrant spices they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. They didn’t know what to make of this. Suddenly, two men were standing beside them in gleaming bright clothing. The women were frightened and bowed their faces toward the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He isn’t here, but has been raised. Remember what he told you while he was still in Galilee, that the Human One must be handed over to sinners, be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” Then they remembered his words. When they returned from the tomb, they reported all these things to the eleven and all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. Their words struck the apostles as nonsense, and they didn’t believe the women. But Peter ran to the tomb. When he bent over to look inside, he saw only the linen cloth. Then he returned home, wondering what had happened.

Silence may be kept.

Gospel canticleThe Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Refrain:Lord, you have raised up a mighty savior for us in your servant David’s house.

Bless the Lord God of Israelbecause he has come to help and has delivered his people.He has raised up a mighty savior for us in his servant David’s house,just as he said through the mouths of his holy prophets long ago.He has brought salvation from our enemiesand from the power of all those who hate us.He has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,and remembered his holy covenant,the solemn pledge he made to our ancestor Abraham.He has granted that we would be rescuedfrom the power of our enemiesso that we could serve him without fear,in holiness and righteousness in God’s eyes,for as long as we live.You, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High,for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.You will tell his people how to be savedthrough the forgiveness of their sins.Because of our God’s deep compassion,the dawn from heaven will break upon us,to give light to those who are sitting in darknessand in the shadow of death,to guide us on the path of peace.”

Luke 1:68-79

Glory to the Father and to the Sonand to the Holy Spirit;as it was in the beginning is nowand will be forever. Amen.

Refrain:Lord, you have raised up a mighty savior for us in your servant David’s house.

Brief silence.

The Apostle’s Creed

Let us unite in this historic confession of the Christian faith:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,born of the Virgin Mary,suffered under Pontius Pilate,was crucified, died, and was buried;he descended to the dead.On the third day he rose again;he ascended into heaven,is seated at the right hand of the Father,and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,the holy catholic church,the communion of saints,the forgiveness of sins,the resurrection of the body,and the life everlasting. Amen.

Prayers

Intercession and thanksgiving

Prayers are offeredfor the day and its tasksfor the world and its needsfor the Church and her life

Response

Father, by your SpiritBring in your kingdom.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Almighty Lord and everlasting God,we beseech you to direct, sanctify and govern both our hearts and bodiesin the ways of your laws and the works of your commandments;that through your most mighty protection, both here and ever,we may be preserved in body and soul;through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,who is alive and reigns with you,in the unity of the Holy Spirit,one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

As our Savior taught us, so we pray

Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name,your kingdom come,your will be done,on earth as in heaven.Give us today our daily bread.Forgive us our sinsas we forgive those who sin against us.Lead us not into temptationbut deliver us from evil.For the kingdom, the power,and the glory are yoursnow and forever.Amen.

Conclusion

The Lord bless us, and preserve us from all evil, and keep us in eternal life.Amen.